The present invention relates to exercise methods and apparatus and more particularly, to exercise equipment that facilitates movement of a person""s feet through generally elliptical paths.
Exercise equipment has been designed to facilitate a variety of exercise motions. For example, treadmills allow a person to walk or run in place; stepper machines allow a person to climb in place; bicycle machines allow a person to pedal in place; and other machines allow a person to ski and/or stride in place. Yet another type of exercise equipment has been designed to facilitate relatively more complicated exercise motions and/or to better simulate real life activity. This equipment typically uses a linkage assembly to convert a relatively simple motion, such as circular, into a relatively more complex motion, such as elliptical. For examples, see U.S. Pat. No. 4,185,622 to Swenson; U.S. Pat. No. 5,279,529 to Eschenbach; U.S. Pat. No. 5,383,829 to Miller; U.S. Pat. No. 5,540,637 to Rodgers, Jr.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,882,281 to Stearns et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,080,086 to Maresh et al.
Generally speaking, the present invention provides novel linkage assemblies and corresponding exercise apparatus that facilitate coordinated total body exercise. On a preferred embodiment, a rear crank is rotatably mounted on a rearward portion of a frame, and a front crank is rotatably mounted on an opposite, forward portion of the frame. Left and right rails are interconnected between respective portions of the front crank and respective portions of the rear crank, and left and right foot supports are movably mounted on respective rails. Left and right rocker links are pivotally mounted on the frame, and operatively connected to respective foot supports. The rocker links have upper distal ends that are sized and configured for grasping.
Left and right drive links are movably interconnected between the front crank and respective rocker links. The resulting assembly constrains the rails to move through respective circular paths relative to the frame, while also constraining the foot supports to move back and forth relative to respective rails to generate elliptical paths of foot motion.
Among other things, the present invention may be considered advantageous to the extent that the foot supports remain in a single, desirable orientation during exercise activity. Also, the drive links may be adjusted relative to the rocker links to adjust the elliptical foot paths in a manner that similarly adjusts the handlebar paths. The adjustments to the foot paths also move the user relatively further rearward as the foot paths increase in length. Additional features and/or advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the more detailed description that follows.